History

The citizens of Contqual lived a decadent and carefree existence, believing they had created a paradise free from the ugliness found throughout the rest of the Imperium. As a result of this decadence, in late 812.M41, the High Governor of the subsector succumbed to the influence of the Chaos GodSlaanesh. Within a month, the entire subsector was tainted by Chaos, and the worst effects of this taint were on the sector capital world of Shardenus, where a Warp rift had opened, disgorging hordes of Daemons into the Materium, where they were embraced and worshipped by the native inhabitants[1a].

The Imperium's vengeance came in the forms of the Iron Hands, who hated Chaos and its influences more than any other Space Marinechapter. The Iron Hands reclaimed a dozen worlds in the subsector, purging the tainted populations without mercy[1a].

The most desperate battle was on Shardenus, where the Iron Hands fought directly against the daemonic hordes, and the warp rift was sealed by the combined efforts of the chapter Librarians[1a].

In the year following the closing of the warp rift, one in every three Imperial citizens of the Contqual sector, including on Shardenus, were executed, as a harsh lesson against complacency and falling to the temptations of Chaos[1a].